In a shock move, school teachers have been granted permission of ridding their pupils' phones of raunchy and sexy content.

Norman Baker, Home Office minister has warned that young people must be made aware of the potential repercussions that sending a sexualised images of themselves using their smartphones or computers can have.

According to the Internet Watch Foundation, thousands of explicit 'selfies' taken by teens can end up on shaming revenge websites, or on erotic sites browsed by paedophiles.

Speaking in Commons, Baker said: "We have given teachers stronger powers to tackle cyber-bullying by searching for, and if necessary, deleting inappropriate images or files on electronic devices.

He concluded: "It is critical to educate young people about the risks of sending intimate photographs.

Charities like ChildLine have also spoken out about the huge threats that face youngsters who send scantily clad self-portraits.

CRITICAL ISSUE: Baker thinks young people should be educated of the dangers of x-rated selfies [PHOTOSHOT]

CONSEQUENCES: Sexting can lead to humiliation and bullying [GETTY - POSED]

Statistics collected by the charity reveal that over half of young people questioned confessed to receiving a sexual photo or video.

Most were from a partner, but worryingly, a third of children had sent them to strangers.

“It is critical to educate young people about the risks of sending intimate photographs”

Norman Baker, Home Office Minister

A case study on the NSPCC website suggests that 'sexting' is common place and can have unexpected and severe consequences – including suicidal feelings.

An anonymous child shared: "Sexting is really pretty normal at my age. It seems like everyone is doing it. There are definitely risks involved."

"Somebody saw a video message I sent to a previous partner, took a screen shot and posted it online. They called me a pervert and lots of people I knew saw it."

"I was completely devastated and, to be honest…almost suicidal."

Granted the powers officially by the government, teachers are now able to search schoolchildren for smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices which could store the naughty snaps.